Re: Size of the universe question ?

Andy Hewitt wrote:
No_Spam <no_spam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Maybe some kind soul can answer this for me and tell me what I'm missing ?

If the universe is just under 14 billion years old how can it be (from
what I've read) 93 billion light years across ?

If nothing can exceed the speed of light then shouldn't the maximum diameter be no more than the age x2 (assuming the universe expands at
the speed of light, which it doesn't).

I have a feeling the explanation will be something to do with the early
universe not obeying the laws we observe now, but I can't find any info
on the sites I found so far and it's bugging me !!

Thanks...

According to this:

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/bigbang.html

The matter was already there, the Big Bang just caused it to expand.

Ok, I've read that. Far easier than I thought.
What this says (answer 6) is that it's possible the the speed of expansion can exceed the speed of light !!
In a way I can sort of see that working. If nothing with mass can move faster than the speed of light it seem only reasonable that that nothing (having zero mass) CAN move faster than the speed of light...

I think I might have to go for a lie down in a darkened room for a while now...



What gets me going, is if the universe *is* a universe, by definition it
must be infinite, surely? So how can it even have a size?

But, surly it's only infinite because space is curved. If you could somehow measure a straight line without the curvature getting in the way you might find the 'edge' ??
.

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